Healthier Pastitsio

This is a sponsored post by Dishtory, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

My Yiayia and my mom were the biggest influences in my life in regards to developing my passion for cooking. I spent many hours learning from them in the kitchen and watching them construct baklava, spanakopita, tiropita, and other incredible Greek dishes. They didn’t even need to look at a recipe. I joined the fun when I was a bit older, making sure to pay close attention to their idiosyncrasies.

Later in life, I asked my mom to send me one of Yiayia’s recipes. The recipe she sent me was written in Greek. And then once I translated it, I realized it only had very basic directions—it didn’t include all of the tips and tricks Yiayia showed me when we made it together. I called her to ask about it, and it was only until she explained it to me over the phone that I remembered how to make the recipe.

Most people can follow directions, but oftentimes, there’s a lot more that goes into a dish than what is written in the recipe. That’s why Dishtory is such a great concept. The app allows users to record, save and share recipes in their own voice so they can create, plate and curate home-cooked creations with people who matter most. Unlike written recipe cards, the audio heirlooms cooked up on Dishtory exist in perpetuity, can be shared instantaneously, and bring the voice of a distant, departed or disconnected one to life. 

I recently used the app to share a “lightened-up” version of one of my family’s favorite recipes, pastitsio. Often described as Greek lasagna, the dish is traditionally very heavy with ground beef and a rich béchamel sauce. The lighter version I created uses mushrooms instead of meat, and I used a Greek yogurt topping in place of the béchamel sauce.

My mom was skeptical of the recipe, so I asked her to make it with me. I wanted Yiayia to come over as well, but unfortunately she is unable to travel due to restrictions at her assisted living facility.

This photo shows Yiayia and my mom making baklava in 2017.

Replacing ground beef with mushrooms is a fairly new food trend, but there are certain steps you need to take when making the substitution. For example, mushrooms are 90% water, so before using them in a recipe, you need to cook them down to the point that all the water evaporates from the mushrooms. If you don’t evaporate all the water, your dish will be soupy. It took about an hour of cooking the mushrooms on the stove before the water was all evaporated. I explained that to my mom when we were cooking together, and I also recorded that info in the Dishtory app so she can listen back to it without me.

Dishtory’s simple, easy-to-use interface allows users of all ages and life stages to quickly navigate and create their audio recipes for posterity—no complicated instructions or tutorials required! You can record a recipe and upload a picture within the app, or you can upload sound and images from your phone’s library. And if you’re not comfortable sharing your recipe with anyone else, there’s an option to keep it private.

Also, you can search for recipes in the app by either the username or the recipe name. After discovering a new recipe you’re interested in, save it in your “recipe book” in the app for easy access.

Even though Yiayia wasn’t with us to make this recipe, I shared the recording with her. I know it warmed her heart to see that her passion for cooking and Greek food lives inside me.

Healthier Pastitsio

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds baby Bella or cremini mushrooms
• 2 yellow onions, small dice
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 1, 28-ounce can petite diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 egg, beaten

For the pasta

• 14 ounces bucatini pasta
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

For the topping

• 3 cups plain Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup Kefalotyri Greek cheese, grated (can substitute romano or parmesan)

Directions

For the sauce

1. Pulse mushrooms in food processor until they resemble ground meat.
2. Cook mushrooms in deep skillet until all water is released and evaporates.This may take up to an hour.
3. Once water evaporates, add onion. Cook on low until onions become soft and translucent.
4. Add garlic and tomato paste and cook until mixed in, about a minute.
5. Stir in tomatoes, red wine, salt, paprika, black pepper, cinnamon, ground cloves, and bay leaves.
6. Bring to boil, reduce to gentle simmer. Cover and simmer 45 minutes to an hour to allow flavors to develop. Stir occasionally. Sauce should be very thick. If it isn’t thick enough, cook uncovered another 5 - 10 minutes. Set aside when done.
7. Allow sauce to cool and stir in beaten egg.

For the pasta

1. Cook bucatini in salted water for 8 minutes, or 1 minute short of al dente per package instructions.
2. Allow to cool and stir in beaten egg and feta cheese.

For the topping

1. Mix Greek yogurt with beaten eggs, salt, pepper, and ground nutmeg.

For assembly

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray.
3. Spread pasta in even layer in baking dish.
4. Spread sauce in even layer over pasta.
5. Spread topping in even layer over sauce. Sprinkle cheese on top
6. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping turns golden. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Bougatsa pie

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible.

Bougatsa is best described as a Greek custard pie with warm spices and a phyllo crust. When I visited Greece, it was served every morning for breakfast. But it's delicious any time of day. I love the contrast of the creamy filling with the crisp phyllo.

It's typically baked in a large casserole dish and cut into squares, but in honor of Pie Day, I made it into an actual pie in a skillet. The phyllo dough serves as the crust to the custard filling.

I use clarified butter whenever I work with phyllo. The butter we buy from the grocery store consists of butterfat, milk solids, and water. Clarified butter is the butterfat with everything else removed.  Because the milk solids are removed, clarified butter has a higher smoking point. Phyllo dough is very delicate and using clarified butter helps it to brown evenly. I recommend using a good quality butter like Challenge European Style Unsalted Butter. Challenge European butter is churned slower and longer than other butters to produce a more flavorful butter with less moisture and higher butterfat. In fact, it consists of 83% butterfat, whereas standard American butters contain 80% butterfat.

I have a bit of advice if you haven't worked with phyllo dough: Use a damp towel and work quickly to prevent the phyllo from drying out. It's important to first allow your phyllo dough to come to room temperature, but don't open the package until you're ready to work with it. Once you open the roll and expose it to air, it will dry out. This is problematic because phyllo becomes brittle and breaks easily when dry. I recommend you lightly dampen a tea towel and use it to cover the phyllo you aren't currently using while you layer and butter each phyllo sheet in the skillet. Use one entire roll as the base of your crust. A standard roll has 20 sheets. If one or more of your sheets rips, that's okay! Just use as many sheets as you can.

Bougatsa pie

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the clarified butter

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Challenge European Style Unsalted Butter

For the custard

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (80 grams) semolina flour (can substitute with 60 grams all purpose flour)
• 1 1/4 cups (283 grams) whole milk
• 3/4 cup (170 grams) heavy cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 grams) vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 20 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

Directions

For the clarified butter

1. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Don't stir!
2. Skim off foamy milk solids that rose to the top.
3. Carefully ladle golden butterfat into bowl, leaving behind residue of milky white solids that settled at bottom of pan.
4. Keep clarified butter at room temperature throughout duration of spanakopita recipe. When finished, cover and store in refrigerator.

For the custard

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, eggs, sugar, and semolina flour. Add whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cardamom. Whisk to combine.
3. Brush bottom and sides of 10-inch cast-iron skillet with clarified butter. 
4. Lightly dampen dish towel. Unroll roll of phyllo dough and lay dish towel on top. Keep towel on top of unused phyllo while you work to prevent dough from drying out.
5. Working quickly, remove one phyllo sheet from rest of stack and gently press in bottom and up sides of skillet. Lightly brush entire sheet with butter.
6. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets, rotating each sheet in a different direction as you add it.
7. Pour cream mixture into skillet. 
8. Carefully crimp overhanging edges of phyllo so it looks like pie crust. Lightly brush exposed surface of phyllo with butter.
9. Carefully move skillet to oven and bake until phyllo is golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. The edge should be set, but the center should still be a little jiggly. Double-check with an instant-read thermometer. The custard is done when it reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. Remove skillet from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 8 wedges and serving.

Spanakopita pie

 This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible.

Spanakopita is usually described as spinach and feta pie, but it's typically baked in a large casserole dish or shaped into triangles. But in honor of Pie Day, I made it into an actual pie with phyllo dough serving as the crust to the spinach and feta filling.

I grew up making spanakopita with my mom and my Yiayia, so I want to share some tips I learned from them throughout the years.

Use clarified butter. The butter we buy from the grocery store consists of butterfat, milk solids, and water. Clarified butter is just the butterfat with everything else removed. Because the milk solids are removed, clarified butter has a higher smoking point. Phyllo dough is very delicate and using clarified butter helps it to brown evenly. I recommend using Challenge European Style Unsalted Butter. Challenge European butter is churned slower and longer, in the tradition of fine European butters, to produce a more flavorful butter with less moisture and higher butterfat than American butter (83% in European versus 80% in standard butters).

Use frozen spinach. I've used fresh spinach and frozen spinach, and I cannot taste a difference. Using frozen spinach is cheaper, and it eliminates the step of having to saute the spinach. You have to make sure to thaw the frozen spinach ahead of time and squeeze all of the water out of it. 

Use cottage cheese. Cottage cheese makes for a really creamy consistency. However, if you're very anti-cottage cheese or if you can't find it in the small curd variety, just omit it.

Use a damp towel and work quickly to prevent phyllo from drying out. Allow your phyllo dough to come to room temperature before working with it, but don't open the packaging until you're ready to work with it. Once you open the roll and expose it to the air, it will dry out. This is problematic because it will become brittle and break easily. Lightly dampen a tea towel and use it to cover up the phyllo dough you aren't currently using.

Spanakopita pie

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the clarified butter

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Challenge European Style Unsalted Butter

For the spankopita pie

• 18 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 3 bunches (about 6 ounces) green onions, white and green parts
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
• 6 ounces small curd cottage cheese
• 4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
• 3/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Zest from 1 lemon (about 1 Tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 20 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

Directions

For the clarified butter

1. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat. Don't stir!
2. Skim off foamy milk solids that rose to the top.
3. Carefully ladle golden butterfat into bowl, leaving behind residue of milky white solids that settled at bottom of pan.
4. Keep clarified butter at room temperature throughout duration of spanakopita recipe. When finished, cover and store in refrigerator.

For the spanakopita

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Drain and squeeze all excess water from spinach. This is very important! A potato ricer works really well for this task. 
3. In a skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of your clarified butter over medium-low heat. Add green onions and garlic and cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and combine with spinach in large bowl.
4. Add feta, cottage cheese, Parmesan, parsley, dill, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Combine with spinach mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir in eggs. Set aside.
5. Brush bottom and sides of 10-inch cast-iron skillet with clarified butter. 
6. Lightly dampen dish towel. Unroll roll of phyllo dough and lay dish towel on top. Keep towel on top of unused phyllo while you work to prevent dough from drying out.
7. Working quickly, remove one phyllo sheet from rest of stack and gently press in bottom and up sides of skillet. Lightly brush entire sheet with butter.
8. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets, rotating each sheet in a different direction as you add it.
9. Spoon spinach-feta mixture into skillet and spread in even layer. 
10. Carefully fold overhanging edges of phyllo toward center of pan. Lightly brush exposed surface of phyllo with butter.
11. Cook skillet over medium heat on stovetop for 5 minutes to crisp bottom crust. 
12. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until phyllo is golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
13. Remove skillet from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 8 wedges and serving.

Recipe inspired by Skillet Spanakopita from NYT Cooking

Fried baklava wontons

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

My favorite thing about the state fair is probably the sheer novelty of the wacky snacks people actually want to try. For example, I probably wouldn’t order a beef sundae or a pork parfait at a restaurant, but if it’s served at the state fair, count me in! I truly love over-the-top fair foods!

So as I was reflecting on state fairs from years past, I started thinking about which of my favorite foods would benefit from a “state fair makeover.” I decided to go with baklava—fried, covered in honey syrup, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.

To do this, I filled wonton wrappers with a mixture of cream cheese, walnuts, sugar, honey, and a little cinnamon.

I used rich and creamy Challenge cream cheese because it's the only company I know that uses hormone free milk from local dairies.

Obviously, none of this is authentic, but the filling really encompasses the flavors of baklava.

I fried the baklava wontons in canola oil, and after they finished cooking, I drizzled them with a traditional baklava syrup made of honey, water, sugar, and cinnamon. And of course, a little sprinkle of powdered sugar on top makes everything better.

If you have issues with the wontons puffing up like pillows when you fry them, stick them in the freezer first—it doesn’t have to be for long, maybe a few minutes—and that should solve the issue.

Fried baklava wontons

Ingredients for the wontons

• 4 ounces Challenge cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 3 ounces walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 24 wonton wrappers
• About 4 cups canola oil for deep frying

Ingredients for the syrup

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 teaspoon cinnamon)

Directions for the wontons

1. Combine walnuts, softened cream cheese, sugar, honey, and cinnamon.
2. Lay out wonton wrapper and moisten edges with water. 
3. Place 1 teaspoon filling into center of wonton wrapper,
4. Bring two opposite corners of wonton wrapper up to meet over filling and pinch seams together in a triangular shape, making sure to squeeze out as much air as possible while doing so.
5. Preheat 1 inch of oil in frying pan over medium heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Drop wontons into hot oil, turning occasionally for 2-3 minutes or until they’re golden brown and crispy. Make sure to not overcrowd pan.
7. Drain on paper towels.

Directions for syrup

1. Combine all syrup ingredients in saucepan and cook on medium heat.
2. Let syrup come to boil and then simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Drizzle syrup on top of wontons, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired, and serve.

Classic Avgolemono Soup (Greek lemon, rice and chicken soup)

Avgolemono (pronounced avo-lem-on-o) is a class Greek soup recipe. The word avgolemono means egg-lemon. It doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, in fact, the recipe my yiayia gave me has just 5 ingredients. But don’t let that fool you because the soup is anything but basic.

It is rich and silky smooth and probably unlike anything you’ve ever tasted. It’s the perfect soup when you’re feeling under the weather. The lemon juice soothes sore throats, and the rice can help calm stomach troubles.

The soup appears to be creamy, but the thick consistency actually comes from eggs. Eggs act as a thickening agent in many recipes. But as you already know, raw eggs become scrambled eggs when you heat them, and we don’t want that in this soup (egg drop soup is a different story).

So we must use a special technique called tempering.

Tempering eggs is the process of slowly raising the heat of the eggs to avoid scrambling them. You do this by adding a small amount of hot broth into the egg mixture while vigorously whisking. The process is repeated several times before dumping all of it into the broth.

Staying on the topic of eggs, there seems to be a lot of variance between whether to use only egg yolks or the entire egg.

After much experimentation, I’ve determined this to be the best method:

1. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites while the eggs are still cold and before you do anything else! It’s easier to separate yolks from whites while eggs are cold, BUT you want the eggs to warm to room temperature before tempering them. That’s why you should do it first!

2. Whisk the egg whites vigorously before adding the yolks and lemon juice. You want the egg whites almost at soft peak stage. This will help you produce the volume you need to thicken the soup and prevent the egg whites from separating. Once you add the yolks and lemon juice, stir to combine but don't overmix.

Avgolemono soup (Greek lemon and rice soup)
Yield: Serves 8 people
Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Parsley for garnish, if desired

Directions

1. Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Make sure the egg whites are in a large bowl. The egg yolks can be in a smaller bowl.
2. Add the lemon juice to the egg yolks but don't mix. Set aside.
3. Drizzle olive oil in bottom of pot at least 3 quarts in size and warm to medium heat.
4. Brown chicken in pot, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate and shred. It should be cooked at this point. If it's a tiny bit pink don’t worry because it will finish cooking in the stock with the rice.
5. Add onion to pot and cook until tender about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
6. Deglaze pot with a couple of tablespoons of stock. Add the rest of the stock, rice, salt, pepper, and shredded chicken. 
7. Bring stock to boil and let simmer for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
8. Once rice is cooked, turn heat to low.
9. Going back to your eggs, vigorously whisk egg whites until they’re thick and frothy, about 2 minutes. 
10. Add the yolks and lemon juice to the egg whites and whisk slowly until just combined. Don’t whisk too much or you’ll lose the frothiness!
11. While whisking, slowly add 1 cup of hot soup from pot to bowl with eggs and lemon juice. Repeat with several cups of soup, all while still whisking. 
12. Once you’ve finished tempering the soup, add it back to the pot, remove from heat, and stir.
13. Serve with fresh parsley!

Yia Yia's Famous Baklava

It wouldn’t make sense for me to start this post without first talking about my Yia Yia. My 88-year-old Yia Yia has always been very witty and sharp. When I was 6-years-old, she moved from South Bend to Florida. After she moved, I was only able to see her once a year when my family visited for spring break. But she was always good for an hour-long phone call! She could talk your ear off!

In March of this year, we received horrible news – Yia Yia suffered a stroke. And more than anything, it affects her ability to find her words while trying to speak. This is devastating because her words were always such a big part of her personality.

Additionally, because of the stroke, Yia Yia was no longer able to live without full-time assistance. So in July she moved back home to Indiana.  And for the first time since I was 6, I have been able to see Yia Yia on a monthly basis.

This year, Yia Yia was able to take part in our yearly tradition of making baklava for the holidays. We've always used Yia Yia’s recipe, but she was never around to make it with us.

While we were making the baklava, I could tell that for the first time since her stroke, she seemed back to her normal self. It was a very special experience, and I will always remember it.

Yia Yia's Famous Baklava

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

For the baklava

·      1 pound filo

·      3/4 pound unsalted butter, melted

·      1 and 1/4 pound walnuts finely chopped

For the syrup

·      2/3 cup light Karo syrup

·      1 and 1/3 cup honey

·      2/3 cup water

·      1 cinnamon stick

You also need a 9x13 baking pan and a pastry brush

Directions for the baklava

1.     Lightly butter a 9x13 baking pan.

2.     Unroll filo dough and cover with a cool cloth to keep from drying out as you work. You need to work quickly because the filo sheets will dry out!

3.     Carefully place one sheet of filo at the bottom of the baking pan.

4.     Dip pastry brush in melted butter and butter layer of filo thoroughly.

5.     Do the same thing with four more sheets of filo – placing a sheet in the baking pan and then buttering.

6.     Lay a sixth sheet of filo in the pan, but DO NOT butter this sheet.

7.     Evenly distribute 1 cup of the chopped walnuts on this layer of filo.

8.     Now repeat the process again, but this time you’ll only layer three sheets. So it will look like this: filo, butter, filo, butter, filo, nuts. Continue this process until you have five layers of nuts.

9.     The last layer will consist of 6 sheets of filo – just like the bottom layer.

10. Once you’ve layered 6 sheets pour the extra butter in the saucepan on top. But DO NOT dump all of the butter. In your saucepan of  melted butter you will see a white creamy bottom layer. This is the milk of the butter. Do not put the milk of the butter on the baklava – just the top layer. Discard the milk of the butter when finished.

11. Refrigerate the baklava until the butter hardens (approximately 1 hour).

12. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

13. Score the baklava in 4 straight lines.

14. Put baklava in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the baklava is lightly browned.

Directions for the syrup

1.     While baklava is baking, combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat.

2.      Let the syrup come to a boil and then cool.

3.     Once the baklava has been pulled from the oven, let it rest five minutes and then pour the entire saucepan of syrup on top. *Rule of thumb: Pour cool syrup over hot baklava so the syrup soaks into the baklava.*

4.     Refrigerate baklava for 24 hours so that the syrup can fully soak into the baklava.

5.     Cut into isosceles triangles when ready to serve.

6.     Serve baklava in cupcake wrappers.

7.     The baklava will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month – if you don’t eat it all before then!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: There are 2 rolls of filo in the package.  Keep one roll in the refrigerator while you are making the baklava.  Sometimes the sheets are not all usable (there torn or crumbly) and you may have to discard some sheets.  If that is the case, you will need to use the second roll. Any unused filo may be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.